"I don't care if you die."

-This was said to an anti-capitalist protester by a wealthy resident of Nantucket Island

This is a dreadful time for people right now.  Unfortunately, most of the troubles are not new. They have just gotten much worse. Too many people continuously blame people in need for having the need, which most of the people doing the blaming are responsible for creating. On the other end of the spectrum there are the have-nots who are angry for being have-nots and being aggressive about it to any random person that they may encounter, just because. Having worked in the American legal system in years past and in the social services system I can tell you that most of the people who came and went through the places that I worked were nearly all guilty as hell of being aggressive, hateful, smug, snotty, impatient, threatening, and condescending. Numerous times I and my co-workers and supervisors had our lives threatened for just being there and trying to help and do our jobs. I’ve had people tell me that they knew where I lived and if I didn’t give them what they wanted they would show up at my house. When I worked in the Circuit Clerk’s office, we used to get letters from incarcerated people saying that when they got out of prison, they were going to kill us, the prosecutor, and the judge who sentenced them. I saw a great deal of hostility from attorneys who just felt like being jackasses on any given day if it took longer than they wanted to bother with to process their documents. I left the legal profession after a few years without ever looking back because it was damn tiring to be in the line of fire just about every day by someone who, as they say, had a ”cob crossways." I saw citizens, lawyers, civic leaders, police officers, social elites, doctors, ministers, and children get carted off to jail and I wondered if anyone in the entire town was actually nice or law abiding when it came down to it. An attorney that I worked with and admired very much was arrested and sent to prison for embezzling child support funds. Socially prominent doctors were getting sued for malpractice on a regular basis and to see them in public you would think that they didn’t give one big damn about being accused of causing the death or injury of anyone. Most of them settled out of court with the plaintiffs, and once their cases were settled it wasn’t a shock to find myself filing legal papers against them again after a few months or a year. One of the biggest recipients of malpractice suits against him was also the head of the local Republican Party. A doctor that I had worked with many times was arrested and sent to prison for “loan lapping” along with a prominent local banker. I lived in one corrupt little town, for sure. Wealthy big shots were charged with sexual harassment, indecent exposure, and pedophilia frequently. There was lots of gossip and giggling about them behind their backs but I don’t remember anyone in their social groups reacting like it was a terrible thing and they should be punished. They didn’t care. It didn’t happen to them. Is it any wonder that there is no peace anywhere on the planet now since people have never bothered to address this kind of hell that just keeps getting worse?

I have only had health insurance coverage three times in my life. Each time it was very short lived. I had it twice for a short period of time because it was tied to employment on short lived jobs. When my husband had a heart attack, he was fired from his job for being unable to work. His employer did not give a damn about it at all except he wanted me to return the company vehicle. I had to come home from out of state (where my husband was in the hospital) and get my stepfather to drive the vehicle back for me because I did not know how to drive a standard transmission. There were no condolences sent or a final paycheck given. The only thing that saved me from financial catastrophe and emotional collapse was that we qualified for Medicaid because we had two young children. Because of that, the whole family received coverage. Medicaid was a god send. My husband was in the hospital for four months before he died. He was suffering from heart disease, liver disease, kidney disease and uncontrollable diabetes. After his heart surgery all of his major organs began to fail and I was told that a liver transplant might be his only chance. As it turned out, he didn’t have a chance at all. He was only 38 years old. As devastating as all of this was for me, one thing that helped save my sanity was the fact that Medicaid paid for all of his medical care except $255.00 for blood transfusions that he received. I couldn’t believe it. I nearly fell out of my chair when I saw the bill, and cried uncontrollably. I never expected them to pay the thousands of dollars that we were charged. I am still so grateful to this day that they did. I can tell you for a fact that it wouldn’t happen now. In the state where I live today, they are throwing people off the Medicaid rolls right and left by the hundreds of thousands, eliminating desperately needed care for infants, children, pregnant women, disabled people, and the elderly. They don’t give one damn if these people live or die. In their mind, it serves them right for having the audacity to be sick and poor. It breaks my heart to see this happening knowing that there used to be a semblance of decency in some places. You can thank corporate lobbyists and wealthy elitists like the man in Nantucket for this. They bought government cooperation in their quest to deny people in need in order to stay ungodly wealthy and superior. You can also blame the government for allowing themselves to be bought. Lobbying should be outlawed because too many people are willing to sell their souls for a profit. I have seen this time and time again throughout my life. Once people get a taste of affluence and a welcome into elitist circles, they more often than not feel a new entitlement to never look back upon the time when they may have had an actual heart. They continue to believe that they are still good people, it is just that somehow the people that they rose above are irrelevant now and do not deserve to do as well as they are. I cannot say that the people who have turned the insurance companies into multibillion dollar establishments ever really had a caring and generous heart, but I know that some state and federal entities used to. Now, very few of them do. These people are not really any different from the people in the corrupt little town that I used to live in. Much of the problem is that they have never really been held accountable in their own peer group and since that is the only group that keeps them in wealth and power, no one else matters. It is a narcissist’s game, and it is the only game that they want to play. So, who can stop them from being this way? A person with a gun? No. That just happened and they are appalled that they are being called on to account for their cruelty and selfish behavior. It will take a refusal to let them lobby/buy their way out of this by their peers and our government to stop their behavior. Without the rest of the elitists rediscovering their own humanity and humility and discontinuing to turn a blind eye to these tragedies we will never get beyond the situation that turns the rest of us into desperate and furious people who will at some point start a class war that can only end in the death of this nation. It has already begun. Those who can stop this are not yet willing to. Bottom line, you just have to be human enough to not take the damn money!

We are coming to the close of this year and I wonder how much money people will be spending on gifts and gadgets for Christmas that people do not need. If the insurance companies would take the money that they have collected and hoarded from all of the people whose only wish was to be well again and put it into a government fund, not the pockets of politicians, to create the single payer healthcare system that we want and desperately need we could immediately do away with a great many of the serious situations that we now find ourselves in.  Medicare for all sounds like the perfect solution for America but I actually believe that Medicaid for all would be the better choice. I have seen firsthand that what it used to be can be like a miracle without monthly premiums, co-payments, and deductibles. The companies would still have homeowner’s and automobile insurance to stay in business. Lower the 10 - 20-million-dollar CEO salaries to a reasonable amount to maintain a comfortable living. No one on the planet needs that much money to live on. Also, return the hospitals and medical practitioners back to nonprofit.

Before it becomes too late to stop a troubled citizen from taking a desperate stand on our immigration crisis there needs to be an emergency solution proffered to rebalance the system. We need to create a coalition of citizens who believe in and support immigration to step in and take responsibility for how badly we have bungled our current policies. These people really need to be willing to sponsor immigrants one person or one family at a time. This can be done legally. Every person that strongly believes in freely allowing immigrants to come to their country needs to also realize that to promote this has to mean that they will take some responsibility for the support of every immigrant; financial responsibility and integration in to communities’ responsibility. Our tax dollars designated to address the situation have been blown to hell by incompetent administrators who use the bulk of the money to pay capitalist entities to do a half-ass job and rake in much of the money for their own pockets. What we have created and allowed to happen with haphazard rules and policies so far is ruining lives and ending lives. Do not designate yourself as a sanctuary city or country without proving that you have a support system in place to manage it. Countries and societies are collapsing under the weight of what we have allowed to happen up to now. Criminal opportunists are taking advantage of the incredible chaos and getting elected to positions that they are not qualified to manage even if they really wanted to. If you support immigration, really support it by sponsoring these people who only want a better home and way of life. Your governments are not capable of solving this problem. They have proven that.

We are going to have a new government administration in January and if the current President and government officials wanted to, they could do much here at the 11th hour to set this country upon a different path. Right now, is truly our only opportunity. After January 20th you can kiss goodbye the possibility of ever righting the wrongs here because there aren’t enough people in America who understand the hell that they asked for on November 5th. Nonviolent people  in prison right now whose only crime was protesting unfair treatment and discrimination should be given clemency. Eliminate all for profit correctional facilities. Hold the money hoarders in this country accountable for their unwillingness to pay taxes, give a living wage and fewer work hours to everyone who works, and give an equivalent of the living wage to those who cannot work for whatever reason. Raise Social Security payments to that level as well. Eliminate student debt and medical debt. If you can imagine these things, you can do them. If you cannot imagine them, then peace will never be imaginable on this planet either.

While it is painfully evident that too many people do not care if you live or die or starve to death or become homeless now, there was a time when it wasn’t so fashionable to be this way. If you were always so uncaring like this it was at least not so supported by most people to brazenly show it. We really must hold each other accountable for the consequences of what we have created. So many horrific crimes against humanity go unpunished because our society doesn’t recognize them as crimes because they are being committed by the wealthy, the powerful, and the elitists. We turn a blind eye and let it continue because holding them accountable requires a different mindset toward their perceived superiority. When a “David” takes a stand to stop a ”Goliath” we need to recognize that it came to this because of our continued inaction to correct inhumanity and fascism. What ever crime you think that “David” has committed to stop these problems is a small price to pay for eliminating a terrible injustice. Put your pitchforks away because the law does recognize “justifiable homicide” when that is the only thing that will stop the mass murder of countless others. Learn to recognize what it takes to right a dreadful wrong. The solution isn’t always pretty and you cannot assume that evil always has an ugly face.  Putting people before profit is the only solution. Only “David” had the courage to stop the giant. We created that giant and looked away when he stepped on and killed thousands. Thank God that somebody felt compelled to step in and try to call a halt to the even bigger crime, but we need so many more of them.

There is no better time to right what is wrong than this moment, while we have Christmas to help us remember that caring and giving is (at least it used to be) a human tradition. Wake up on Christmas morning with a renewed sense of self-worth and esteem by being an integral part of a world that has decided to build up instead of tear down. Realize that peace will be your reward. Hatred and death does not have to be the legacy of this generation. There really can be a Merry Christmas to all and it can last well beyond the holiday season. We only need to make it so.

                                                                       🎄🕊️

"ILL" Gotten Gains

The recent killing of Brian Thompson, the CEO of United Healthcare has truly been a shock here in America. At least it has been for the capitalist class who believe themselves to be worthy of worship in the world. The rest of us aren’t too terribly surprised by this event. What is surprising is that it didn’t happen long before now. A young man has been arrested and charged with 2nd degree murder for the killing, but this entire situation could have been avoided if we lived in a society that cared enough about its people to eliminate the mental and financial torture that gets worse by the minute in America because of capitalism. This is one of the few times in my life that I have felt like a terrible something that someone did was not a crime so much as the only result that could follow an ongoing abuse that was put upon the perpetrator and countless others who knew of no other response to their trauma. Three other instances of justifiable crimes were the ordeals of Patty Hearst, Francine Hughes, and an elderly man in California who killed a neighbor for constantly terrorizing and threatening everyone in the neighborhood. I am sure that there are thousands more incidents like these that just didn’t make it to the national news. Their circumstances are different, but fear and abuse were at the core of all of these tragedies. There always comes a point when a human being can no longer manage the torture being forced upon them. When your health and wellbeing and your very life are threatened and controlled by uncaring others, a break will inevitably come.

Filmmaker Michael Moore’s documentary “Sicko” gave us a very hard look at the health insurance industry in America years ago and it was not a pretty sight. It was the first documentary of his in all the films that he has made that quickly brought me to tears. How humans can treat each other with such disregard and a “don’t give a shit” attitude when it comes to some of the most basic of human needs such as health and wellness is inconceivable to me. They absolutely can and do, though, and there is one man out there who said loudly to them “how dare you!” last week.

I was very surprised that it was a McDonald’s employee who called the police on the suspect. There are probably thousands of people in this country who would hide this man in their homes or give him resources to prevent his capture or swear in court that he was with them at the time of the shooting playing video games or watching Netflix. If the shooter goes to trial for this, few people will want to convict him. You can’t blame them. With the exception of Wendell Potter (who blew the whistle on the insurance companies years ago) and Michael Moore, there has really not been anyone here who has bothered to do anything about the “legalized extortion” that has frustrated, traumatized, prolonged illnesses, and been responsible for the deaths of possibly millions of people like the insurance industry has. Our government turns a blind eye to it all and hungrily accepts their payoffs when the insurance moguls say “frog." (for those who may not be familiar with this old saying, it is a reference to calling out people who can be bought, as in, when the people who are offering money to get a pass on their unacceptable behavior call upon you to cover their asses all they have to do is say “frog” and you will say “how high?” meaning you are more than willing to jump as high as they would like you to in order to collect the cash for doing it.) I am sure that most Americans are hoping that this event will shake up the country enough to bring about a total change in the healthcare industry now and create a national single payer system for everyone. I am afraid that I cannot be that optimistic. I would love to be, but I cannot imagine monied people suddenly finding their better angels now and vowing to do right by others just because one millionaire capitalist was killed for his apathy toward the people that he screwed over and caused the death of for his own profit. As it turns out, this man was one of the lower paid millionaires in the industry. His salary was only 10 million per year. Most of the other CEOs in the large insurance companies make more than 20 million per year. They might be afraid of being gunned down by an “at-the-end-of-their-rope” citizen, but they are most likely too arrogant to believe that it could ever happen to them. Pretty sickening to know that, and even more sickening to know that our heartsick illness isn’t covered in any insurance plan. Having arrested someone for the shooting so quickly pretty much means that not enough time will have elapsed for there to be any sort of wakeup call or remorse on the part of the insurance companies toward their guilt at causing an incident like this to have happened.

So, with Christmas being two weeks away is there any hope that the elitists and capitalists in this country will now do an about face like Ebeneezer Scrooge did when he got a look at how uncaring and cruel, he had been to others, and become the kind of people who will make amends for all of their past crimes against humanity? The “miracle of Christmas” that they talk about in literature and film would have to go quite a stretch to bring that about, but I would love to believe in the possibility. We could all ask the Universe to send them three spirits to show them how they have wronged us. We could also send them a link to the song below and pray for a humbling of their hearts. We need to bring about a miracle because talking hasn’t made any difference. The man who was arrested will now suffer the modern-day equivalent of a crucifixion for what has happened. Some people are calling on President Biden to pardon him, but I wouldn’t even bet a nickel on that. Jesus had the remote opportunity to be saved if the citizens had wanted it but they didn’t. They chose to save the career criminal Barabbas instead. So many people have no idea how much unnecessary trouble they continuously cause in the world by not understanding who they are, what they are, and why they are here. There is a connectedness between all of us that mostly goes unspoken and unheard. Suffering is always the outcome of this ignorance. What a shame that it always takes catastrophe and death to knock some sense into us, and even then, it never resonates with everyone.

Invited to Inishbiggle Island

YouTuber Bertie Brosnan posted a video a few days ago about Inishbiggle Island, off the coast of Ireland. (See Video Here) The name of the island sounds very whimsical like a place you would read about in a fairytale, but its story is anything but cute. It is an island with less than 20 inhabitants now and according to Bertie it is one without hope. He says that the Irish government has washed its hands of it and its people. How could this be happening? The whole world is ablaze with news stories and protests about the plight of thousands of immigrants who have made their way to just about every country on the planet seeking shelter and a new life. Billions of dollars have been spent on trying to help and accommodate them, and a great many people are angry to find them living in their countries. I honestly do not know how the world will be able to solve this crisis, but I am pretty confident that there are many people who would know how to save the island of Inishbiggle and it’s inhabitants if they were willing to look into their left-wing philosophies regarding how countries and governments across the globe have made an incredible mess in their world by focusing only on their own self interests. I have a few suggestions for the people who speak daily about how we need to do away with inequality and capitalism by remaking the world with socialism. My views are strictly the product of years of caring and observing people and the world. Expert minds in the fields of sociology and economics would probably be able to write the book on how to save Inishbiggle Island from a total demise. I am counting on that, if they are also believers in socialism and Marxism and communism. Here is their opportunity to start from scratch to remake a place that capitalism no longer wants and turn it into a place where cooperation and sustainability can be the model for the world to see.

When you watch the video, you will see that transportation from the island to mainland Ireland is a critical issue that has to be addressed. Where most countries have been digging their own graves for decades by their dependence on fossil fuels, I am certain that there are some very learned people out there who know a solution for how to solve the issue of being able to commute to the mainland in the most sustainable and eco-friendly way. Billionaires who own private islands have managed to power their estates and travel to and from their mansions. Can we not do the same for the socialist model city that we would be seeking to create? Someone once accused Senator Bernie Sanders of being the only millionaire socialist in the world. I don’t know if that is true but I can tell you if he is not alone in that it would be helpful if they would put some of their money where their mouth is. It usually takes a person who has experienced poverty to comprehend that it is even a problem.

The possibilities here are endless if the people who teach and promote better living without capitalism truly mean what they say. We can spend the rest of our lives trying to convince the “haves” in this world to step down from their pedestal and acknowledge the “have nots” by talking until we are blue in the face but where has all the talk and statistics gotten us since Karl Marx died? Bertie Brosnan is showing us an incredible starting point for all of our socialist ideals to manifest into a reality. There is no reason why some people who understand the dynamics of how to set up a society that can govern itself and sustain itself to the benefit of all can’t put their knowledge and skills to the test of what they are truly capable of when a place like Inishbiggle Island exists and is as available as an orphaned or abandoned child to be rescued and given the opportunity to live and thrive in a way that so many of us wish we could experience. Time on earth for humans is short, and when all of our talk and conjecture about how wonderful this life could be isn’t manifesting because our voices fall on too many deaf ears there has to be someone or someones to step up and say “we can do this” or our talk has been for nothing. Bless you Bertie Brosnan for showing a need that really can be addressed and built into the very model of what can be if we will put out less talk and more action into the things that we have been promoting and saying for more than a century. If you truly want to see a change, be that change and make it happen. Inishbiggle Island is waiting.

“I don’t know where I'm a-gonna go when the volcano blows.”

-Jimmy Buffet

When you think that things just cannot get any worse here in America, you realize that they absolutely can on November 5th, Election Night 2024. The dreaded day when we will learn just who the Electoral College and wealthy campaign financiers will allow this country to have as our President again. Will it be Biden or Trump? We already know that they will not allow a 3rd party candidate to be the first snowball in hell to survive, so it is down to some sort of repeat of what we have already had, and the outcome will affect more than just Americans.

Will you put your money on the Scorpio, Biden, or the Gemini, Trump? Strictly speaking I would choose the Scorpio because they are at least theoretically capable of great depth of feeling somewhere in their makeup. I know what you are thinking. Show me where the depth of feeling was when Scorpio funded and supported two ghastly wars that have affected the entire planet one way or another. Why not choose the Gemini instead? Well, I cannot in all good conscience do that when it was the Gemini who thought it would be a good idea to inject ourselves with bleach to get rid of Covid 19, he believes that the fictional character of Hannibal Lecter was a great man, and reportedly said that we should drop a bomb inside the eye of a hurricane.  I watched the Presidential Debate last night and I can tell you that my money is still on the Scorpio, Joe Biden, for reasons that may be viewed differently by others, but they are valid ones for me. 

These are dreadful times in America. I wish that I could say that they are recent developments here, but they truly are not. I have never seen any US President in my life do everything that they could have to solve the many problems that we have here. It takes a large amount of ego and high self esteem to motivate a person to run for the highest level job in the country. Anyone who is sure enough of theirself to run for the office is usually going to carry that belief in their ability into every decision that they make, and this is nearly always a recipe for an exaggerated response to any challenge to their superiority and authority, hence, the largest likelihood for a screw up is usually going to come in their decisions concerning foreign policy. I am rarely 

surprised at how easily our government gets us into wars. Biden has proven to be no exception to that. And while it pains me to see the tragedy that so many people are experiencing right now for that reason, I cannot look at that continuation of an ego centric mindset that happens to come with the territory to base my final thoughts on their reality as a whole person. 

In a previous post on this blog, I wrote about how to know what kind of character a person running for a political office is likely to have based on when they were born. In another post, I spoke about how Biden - Uncle Joe - really needed our help to deal with the fallout from the previous administration. To know astrology is to know that people are capable of great things and capable of terrible things at the same time. Each of us has to struggle with this duality in our nature but a large percentage of us don’t know, don’t understand, and don’t care to develop ourselves in the best ways to stay in balance with our inborn capabilities. I don’t expect that we will ever see a lot of altruistic behavior in a person who has very high career aspirations because the traits necessary to ascend to that do not include Mother Teresa like attributes. The one thing that I would always look for first in any political candidate is their capacity for empathy, and that will nearly always lead you to the Water signs. Most of our previous presidents have been Fire signs and Air signs. I would never say that they are unqualified to lead because they certainly can be, but the way that humanity has fallen off a cliff and descended in to hatred and barbarism in this century calls for emotional depth, understanding of human needs, and the ability to address the issues that have become alarmingly critical when people abandon their willingness to care for and understand the basic needs to sustain life to the point of denying us shelter, food, and healthcare. What are these particular times in human existence calling out for?

Are things so good for us that we should be focused on creating more ways to keep and maintain our finances and infrastructure? If they are, then I would be looking for the kind of people who tend to do well in that area. If there is illness and poverty (such as during the pandemic) I would look for those who tend more toward organization and sympathy for the sick. When I look at the differences between Scorpio and Gemini for the times that we are experiencing right now I am going to look toward Scorpio for the ability to “feel” the suffering of the people. There will be other times to come when Gemini’s abilities might be called for, but I don’t see that in 2024. I cannot say that Scorpio will hit the mark and do the right thing for struggling Americans every time. In fact, I know they won’t.  But I can recall many times during Biden’s term as President when he thought of the needs of the people when leaders before him couldn’t be bothered.

In the Book of Revelation in the Bible they talk about a future time which will be “the beginning of sorrows." I don’t know exactly when that started here but I can tell you that it has been going on for some time now. I can see no end to these sorrows for us because a change for the better would require a radical change in the way people think. When people believe that they are superior and entitled to a high standard of living at the expense of others whom they deem to be of lesser value it is not possible to rid the world of sorrow and pain.  This seems to be a lesson that many would like to delete from the human curriculum. Nobody has ever accomplished creating a balance in America between the haves and have nots in my lifetime, but I truly have seen times in the past when things were better than they are now. I will always be looking for that in this country, but it would require more of us to want it. So, I still stand with the Water sign that we now have because I still believe that this is badly needed.

I can tell you that I surely would love to be somewhere besides here when it all comes down in November but that just isn’t in the cards for me when you consider that it would cost a fortune to pick up stakes and just move around the corner now. As hard as I try, I cannot think of a country in the world where there isn’t as much or more trouble than there is here at the present time, and I really don’t know of any who would look favorably at another immigrant trying to cross their border, legally or not, even if I had the ability to leave. 

So, I know that the political volcano is about to blow here if we aren’t prepared to stop it.  There are 169 actual volcanos in America with the majority of them being in Alaska and Hawaii. The likelihood of all of them erupting at the same time is extremely unlikely, but what we will inherit from a replay of the previous administration will devastate this country as surely as if all 169 of them blew simultaneously. The fallout from a long history of mistakes and bad decisions from our government is already spewing out the molten ash of their poor choices so it is just a matter of time before we are all totally covered in it. I say all of us, but there will be some very rich and powerful elitists who will run like rabbits with all of their ruinous ideals intact to other countries, probably yours, if the political tide doesn’t turn to their liking, and they will start fresh new corruptions there. I would heartily suggest that you turn those refugees away at the border. Just take a look at how they will have left America looking like the battle of Armageddon the day after. We have many big troubles erupting all over the world right now but the choices that we have to lead us for another four years come down to Water and Air again. While it is unlikely that any human being can come in and save the day across the board for us, I believe in staying with the family the way it is right now because jumping ship in the middle of a storm is a dangerous thing to do when the captain of the other ship has already shown that he has no reservations about throwing people overboard on a whim and cannot be bothered to give a life preserver to anyone who is sinking as a result of his one sided policies that favor those who don’t even need help. If the volcano does blow in that direction, I don’t think that we have a prayer.

You can spend the rest of your life looking for that perfect person to lead the world to peace and prosperity for all but ultimately your only choices are going to be flawed human beings who may or may not have the capability to accomplish it. We may not have much of a say in the outcome in November but most of us cannot leave here even if our country appears to be a sinking ship. The best we can do is vote for the person who at least has it in him to change his mind about some things when he sees that he could possibly have been wrong about a few of them. 

When "Current Events" are Yesterday's News

 

When we have a problem that is continuously recurring or just will not go away it is nearly always one that we have failed (or refused) to deal with previously. There is a saying that if you do not remember the past then you are condemned to repeat it, but it is very easy to ignore that truth if you are in a position to push the problem onto others or buy your way out of it. Most of us are not fortunate enough to be able to do that so we tend to find ourselves as the recipients of the baggage that others force upon us because they can.

The above video is from 1984. A post could be written here about the synchronicity of that, but I will save it for another time. The music in the video is great and it is fun to watch. It is stand out comedic and puts a unique face on a dreadful thing, but the message is very real. Forty years ago, we were very afraid of possible nuclear war. Forty years before that, World War Two was raging across the globe. We already had nuclear weapons even then and the United States wasn’t afraid to, and actually did, use them. I think that most people learned a devastating lesson from that and thought better of going that route again, but I am not sure that the current generation received and took that lesson to heart.

Every day now I hear the word “genocide” spoken on someone’s news program or podcast, and I keep asking myself why is humanity allowing such a thing to happen? How is it that the people who are making and allowing a genocide to take place can be so disconnected from the horror of what previous generations have been through when elitism and hatred are allowed to take root in a society? Were they not listening when their parents and grandparents recounted what life was like in the times when death and devastation was being visited upon them? Why would we risk provoking something so terrible as the annihilation of our species just to get our own way in some selfish pursuit of grandiosity?  It did not work for the perpetrators then, and it isn’t going to work now without deep destruction of the planet. People who learn from their mistakes don’t make those same mistakes again. Games are being played with our very lives by people who couldn’t care less about it as long as they keep their wealth and advantage. Our attempts to rebalance the systems that govern us are failing as new elections in nearly every country are turning very hard right. Life will not be sustainable for the masses for much longer as we lose the ability to have shelter, heating and cooling, get and keep a job, and be able to buy food, and yet, few in power are inclined to give these problems a second thought.

There is no universal law that forces us to understand that we are here to experience the life lessons that we did not previously deal with and evolve away from. You can choose (and most people do) to ignore whatever you would like to in this life, but it is a surety that all unresolved past problems will be visited upon us again, and each time that they make a return cycle through our lives they will become worse and much harder to address. 

We are flirting with nuclear war again in 2024, and this time humanity is reeking of narcissism and a cavalier attitude about everything.  Championship boxer Mike Tyson once said “Social media made y’all way too comfortable with disrespecting people and not getting punched in the face for it.” Someone is going to be provoked and pushed too far very soon by a way too sure of themselves bully. The power to blow ourselves to hell exists in many hot-headed and had-enough nations to see to it that a promoter of a “you can’t stop me” attitude has to shut up. The issues that were current and being talked about and reported on in the 1940s and in the 1980s have come back to haunt us. This time they are coupled with the fallout from our ignorance and refusal to address the social and economic problems that are a result of not giving a damn about and not taking responsibility for the actions of those who caused them. Our players have been set to “repeat” and we are damn sick of hearing the same pathetic songs that were never a hit with anyone other than those who wrote them and authored for us the fate that is closing in on us. We need to take the desire for peace torch from Joe “King” Carrasco and put a different song out there that admits that we cannot take any more of these “Current Events” and see to it that it plays all over the airwaves and the internet. Without that, expect to see more of the annihilation that we are witnessing.

Abbie Would Be Proud

In the late 1960s activist Abbie Hoffman wrote a book called Steal This Book. He had a devil of a time getting anyone to publish it because of its title but once it was published it was widely popular. The book is a guide to living in a heavily capitalist society for those who are being financially strangled by it every single day. His view is that the only way to rid ourselves of capitalism is to hurt the enablers of it in the only way that they can understand. You have to take away their profit. He explains many ways for a person to live virtually if not totally without using money. Some of the lessons are doable but many are (I thought) utterly impossible, especially now. Capitalism has a much bigger bite on society today, but I am hearing more and more stories of people doing so many of the things that Abbie wrote about that I have to wonder how many people are still reading his book today. It is available at many bookseller outlets more than 50 years later.

Whenever you order something from Amazon, Ebay or Etsy, and possibly other venues you have to wonder how many of those things are actually coming from a “Homeboy Shopping Club”. I frequently watch videos on YouTube by a fellow named Cash Jordan who reports from his home in New York City about all of the crime and troubles there. Many times, he talks about the enormous problem that they have with shoplifting. There are hundreds of news stories in his videos of people brazenly walking into stores and picking up whatever the hell that they want and just walking out with it because the shoplifting laws there are extremely lax. In the last year or so I have had the feeling that many of my online orders are being fulfilled by sellers who have obtained the merch by “five finger discount”.

My feelings are very mixed on this subject. On the one hand I can’t help but draw upon my upbringing when I was taught that stealing is wrong. I still believe that it is, strictly speaking. I have had my house broken into before. My computer was stolen. Locked boxes with important papers were stolen, and my jewelry was stolen. I was in no position to replace any of it. It seems a bit two-faced to say that stealing is wrong in some situations but not in others, I suppose, but I cannot help but feel that I am being robbed all of the time now with incredibly high prices that I am paying for everything while the manufacturers and sellers of everything that I buy are making obscene profits. So, I cannot actually feel bad about how people are stealing tons of merchandise in broad daylight when it is (possibly) their ill-gotten gains that many times offer me these items at a price that I can afford. Retailers aren’t doing that and they are completely unapologetic about how outrageous their prices are.

We are encouraged to feel badly for these retailers who are closing their stores because of theft. Truly, I do feel bad for small businesses and family-owned stores. If this is their only source of income then that really is tragic. I used to have an Etsy shop where I sold custom made clothing to supplement my income and it was extremely helpful in making ends meet until I started getting customers who would say that there was something wrong with the item but would refuse to return it to get a refund. They wanted their money back but refused to send the item back which isn’t standard practice anywhere that I know of. If you want a refund at Walmart, you have to return the item. When the buyers didn’t get to “have their cake and eat it too” they would leave snotty reviews which ruins your shop’s reputation. Eventually it ceased to be a lucrative business and ceased to be fun. It is too bad, too, because the first 2 - 3 years that I had the shop there were many very good customers who bought from me. I miss them.

So, it is a tough call in today’s world to get irate with people who are “boldly going” and stealing thousands of items from high end stores or just stores with high end prices when they are (most likely) just people trying to get by in this world and make a living by “robbing the rich to help the poor”. I am the poor now that everything that I need to survive costs me double and even triple the amount that it used to. Good old Abbie Hoffman advocated stealing back when prices didn’t even approach what they are now, but it was his view that capitalists rob from the poor to enrich themselves and the only way to stop it is to destroy their bottom line, which is profit over people. I wish that Abbie was here now. I would love to hear his opinion on how much stealing is going on today. No one likes being stolen from but it is far worse for the average person just trying to live a decent life. The wealthy can absorb the hit. They can get reimbursed by their insurance company. I cannot afford insurance. They can write the loss off on their tax returns. My tax return looks like “poverty row” now. Large retailers have many other stores. I can’t even have my Etsy shop anymore. So honest to God, I and millions of others need a Robin Hood advocate in this world now. And we still need an Abbie Hoffman to speak out loudly about the injustice of the capitalist system. It needs to go.

Built-In Software

In 1981, ABC Television had a show called That’s Incredible which ran an episode about May Lemke and her foster son Leslie. It was a very touching episode about how May took in an infant boy who was blind, brain damaged, and not expected to live. (see the YouTube link below) After many years of caring for Leslie, who could do virtually nothing for himself, May bought a second hand piano for him to try to engage him in some activity in case that was possible. Sometime later, (miraculously) Leslie woke May and her husband up in the middle of the night playing a piano concerto. He could barely even walk but he dragged himself out of bed and crawled into the living room and up on the piano bench. Unbelievable as that may sound, the impossible can truly be possible where the spirit is concerned given the right circumstances and the right combination of support from other humans and the encouragement to experience something new. Miracles are also possible in this existence for animals, plants, and virtually all living things if people get out of the way and stop forcing egotistical outcomes. Few people are allowed this in their lives. The majority of us are trained from birth to do as we are told and if we don’t fit into the assigned mold that others want us to be in - to make putting up with us easier for them - we can be classified as useless and discarded. Thank God that May Lemke didn’t see it that way.

The spirit within us is a magical thing. It is like electrical current going through an inanimate object. When a radio or a television is connected to electricity it brings to life sounds and images that would have blown the minds of people who existed prior to the 20th century. Benjamin Franklin showed us how to harness unbelievable power that we have never stopped using. There are more miracles to be found in the lifeforce, but they mostly remain untapped by humans. Discovering those miracles takes the right set of circumstances and an open mind. Unfortunately, most people are preoccupied by selfish pursuits, so you rarely see miracles today. 

After you watch the video try to step aside from yourself and your worries and concerns for your everyday life. You can make miracles in your life if you allow yourself to hear the higher mind that is within you. Sometimes the voice is almost imperceptible but if you are willing to listen, you can create some wonderous things in this life just by having the courage to take a chance.  Few things make life more worthwhile than having made a difference and realizing that you and others may have that same chance with your willingness to allow it.

May Lemke passed away in 1993 but Leslie is still alive at 72 years of age as of this writing. A relative of May’s took over his care. While we ignore the sick and the needy every day in this country it is disheartening to know that each one of those lives that we have viewed as disposable could have contributed to the betterment of life and made a unique difference in the world. Each of us has value. Taking the time to allow and discover what each of us has to give is one of the finest things that we can do in life. Everyone is here for a reason. Finding your own reason and passing that along to others will see to it that more have a chance to recognize the best in themselves. Be glad that you are here. You are capable of making a difference that no one else can because there is no other you in the world.